Why Be A King?
by An Ordinary Fan
Summary: If the rich are more noble than the poor, and the busy are more noble than the lazy, then a king is the noblest of all. But if being a king involves leading your subjects to their doom, what is the point of being noble at all?


**Little King's Story – Why Be a King?**

**EDIT: **Woo! Since I decided to follow up on Obscuris' idea to ask for a "Little King's Story" category, it now exists! Readers of the original story might notice a few changes, but don't fret - the main story is still the same.

**A/N:** Since this game has yet to have- I mean, since the "Little King's Story" category is still fairly recent at the point of time in which this story was added to it, I doubt that it's well-known among the masses. So, for those of you at home who are curious, I'll tell you a bit about it in this opening Author Note. Basically, the game play is a lot like 'Pikmin', but the story and heaps of side quests remind me of Final Fantasy. Also, sometimes, people that die _stay_ dead. This story focuses on that part.

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own the Wii game "Little King's Story". It was **published** by XSeed and Marvelous Entertainment, and developed by Cing and TownFactory (again, thanks Obscuris). If anyone else had a hand in its creation, I honestly forget them completely. Also, I don't own "Pikmin" or "Final Fantasy". And while I'm at it, I'll also admit that I don't own "Sayonara Zetsubo-Sensei", in case I ever decide to write a story that's influenced by it.

----------

Being a king is not as great a job as one might think. Sure, you could always be a tyrant, always making choices that you think are for the best without listening to, or even purposely ignoring, the needs of the people. But that isn't very noble, is it? To be a noble king, one must put the needs of hundreds before his own, work every day in order to keep the peace amongst his people, and strive to be a person that other people want to strive to be. In other words, a whole lot of boring, tiring work.

So, if that is what the job entails, why would somebody want to be a king? This story, inspired by the records of the legendary Alpolko Kingdom, might answer your question…

~!~!~

"Good morning, King Corobo!"

The young boy looked to his left, towards the sound of the light-hearted voice. It was Day 1 of his reign as king of Alpolko, and he had decided to go out and greet his subjects. Well, that, and use his kingly right to have said subjects find the 100,000 Bol that Howser the Bull Knight needed for the treasury.

Back to the voice. It had come from a female Carefree Adult. She appeared to be really tall…then again, Corobo was really short; she was probably only as big as any other regular adult. She didn't have the prettiest eyes, or hair that flowed like a river, or a body with curves in all of the right places. She was, to put it bluntly, ordinary…which is why the pre-teen and apparently parentless King of Alpolko (who had a giant Anything Minister, a going-senile advisor, a naked Troubadour that popped out of thin air and a castle that was little more than a house with a nice chair) thought she seemed a little out-of-place.

He approached her with great curiosity, wanting to find out more about the people he would be bossing around until some far-flung day in the future where he would undoubtedly retire. In a matter of seconds, he learned that her name was Nia. And that was about the only thing he was able to learn; if she was any indication, Carefree Adults really hated to spend time doing anything that would interrupt their laziness. King Corobo decided that this would be the first thing he'd change; why be a king if nobody wanted to follow him?

~!~!~

"I'd give it 100 out of 100 points!"

King Corobo smiled. He was glad to hear that his decisions so far weren't causing any problems among those he was supposed to lead. During the last few days, he had made huge leaps and bounds when it came to cultivating the area. A Farmhouse, a Guardhouse, and more houses for civilians were only the first steps in his plans to be the noblest king of all and unite the entire world (or, as Howser put it, 'World Domination'). Just yesterday, before heading across the new bridge, he and some men had defeated the frog UMA to the west and developed a hunter training camp on the new land.

"So, King, what are you going to do today?" Nia asked. Nia, who was the one that had just rated the kingdom 100/100, had matured a bit in the last few days herself. She had gotten a job as a farm girl under Corobo's request, was capable of beating up an onion-headed monster with her own two hands, managed to dig up at least two hot springs in the past two days…while Corobo's work was much more noticeable and important, Nia felt she was certainly doing her part as best she could.

"Well," Little King Corobo replied, "I was thinking of exploring the land beyond the new bridge. Would you like to come? I know that Howser says that the Onii are vicious, but I could really use your help."

"Why, I'd be honoured, your highness," Nia replied, giving a curtsey as she did so.

And so, Corobo waved his staff and added her to his exploration team. He then proceeded to lead his men across the bridge and into the territory of the Onii. It sounded dangerous, but why be a king if he wasn't allowed to take a few risks every now and then?

~!~!~

"I guess I got lucky that time, didn't I?"

The child king couldn't help but smile at Nia's upbeat attitude. The battle with the Club Onii UMA had been…not the most successful battle in Alpolko's history. Sure, there weren't many battles in said history, but yesterday's struggle was certainly a fierce one. About half of his troops, Nia included, were struck with enough pottery to bury a man before the hunters finally picked off the pests throwing the vases. Corobo had watched her age before his eyes, as all men and women in his kingdom did when they took a beating, and was shocked when most of his troops literally faded away. While he won the battle, he was worried that it was for naught with so many sacrifices.

So, you could imagine his relief when the morning news broadcasted that all of his fallen subjects had washed up on the beach on the day of the Club Festival. He had hurried as fast as his little legs could run to check if the news was true, and to help the people if it was. Thankfully, they were all in peak condition; save for being slightly soggy, they were just as capable of serving the King as they had been before being bashed in the head with vases and giant wooden sticks. Corobo was utterly ecstatic at this revelation; now, the grief that he had felt last night would never come back to haunt him.

After all, if anything bad happened, they'd just wind up on the beach again.

…Wouldn't they? After all, why be a king when there was nobody _left_ to follow him?

~!~!~

"And may her soul be blessed by the great soup in the sky. Ramen."

A stupid, jerky, greedy slave driver that didn't deserve to live. Those were the words that Corobo thought best described him on the day he found out the terrible news. Yesterday had been a bad day; after saving the princess he didn't even know existed before then, and after a carnival to celebrate the defeat of her captor, he had decided to take a chance and expand his kingdom some more. He had found the perfect spot for further development, and was determined to beat the UMA Guardian of the area. And he had…though some of his forces had been knocked out. But it could have been worse; first thing this morning, he had strolled to the beach, and found all the members of his army waiting for him.

All except Nia.

And, for some reason, three of his soldiers were dressed in all black.

It had taken ten minutes to explain to the boy that the farm girl was not going to wash up on the beach, and thirty to stop his crying, just in time for the funeral service at Kampbell's church. All throughout it, Corobo couldn't help but think that, if he had been happy with the land he already had, or had just chosen a different farmer to accompany him on the trip, that she would still be alive today. For a while, he even thought about just handing over his crown to someone like Verde; why be a king when some choices only made things worse?

~!~!~

"And so, may we present the Nia Memorial Bridge."

The idea had been Corobo's. Well, the idea to dedicate the bridge to Nia, that is; the carpenter he always brought along with him had spotted the sign as soon as they had entered the new area. In some ways, this seemed fitting; Nia had given her life for the kingdom and king that she held so dear in her heart, and now she would always be remembered for her noble sacrifice. And while hearts were still heavy on the matter, there was still a silver lining to this cloud; Howser had planned this new district to be filled with condos, and for a school to be developed in order to teach the children. While this area was founded with a solitary death, it would soon allow many other people to live and prosper.

It was at this point that Corobo realized that, deep inside, he was proud with his lot in life. For in this world, for a civilization to prosper, _somebody_ has to make the tough choices. _Somebody_ has to take a risk, and then be humble if things turn out wrong; society would collapse otherwise. Like how a flower needs rain in order to grow into a beautiful blossom, being a great leader requires somebody to deal with bad turns in order to achieve a happy ending. And once that somebody has led their people into a great future, being praised by the public because of their hard work and devotion, they are able to feel more pride and joy than they may have ever felt before.

And _that_, my friend, is why some people want to be a king.

----------------------------

**A/N:** Why did I write this story, you might ask? Only those that have played the game will understand the following, but those just glancing through might figure out the gist of it. Yesterday (That's Aug. 13th, 2009, if this is read on a day other than the 14th) was a day filled with glorious battles. I successfully beat up the Onii King, and went on to conquer the Toadstool Forest…or whatever it's called. During that second battle, all but three members of my 17-person army were knocked out during battle…and one of those 14 poor souls (a farm girl named Nia; this story was based on a true one) didn't wake up on the beach in the morning. Call me a wimp if you must, but I felt like the world's biggest jerk; it's amazing how merely giving someone a name and throwing them a funeral can make you care for a fictional NPC.

Some people cope with stress by making MySpace updates. I prefer writing Fanfics. Good idea, isn't it? By the way, if you liked this story, please leave a review telling me so. And if you didn't like it, please leave a review telling me so…but, if it doesn't trouble you, could you be polite?


End file.
